The all things EV chat thread

[Britishshooting]

I'm guessing that was a while ago as, according to Zap Map, there are quite a few free chargers around Bicester Village.
And a genuine question........if you have a Tesla which has a good range and is perfect for motorway driving and a huge boot for all the shopping, why did you take the Fiat 500?

May sound harsh but I don’t insure my wife to drive my cars, she has hers I have mine. She refused to drive my cars after curbing 2 of my wheels ?.

Anyway.

I’d dropped my car into Land Rover for a warranty repair (I know). Only about 10-15 min drive to the office so a colleague picked me up from there and took me to the office. My wife was going to pick me up from work in the evening as my car was in at LR overnight.

My wife decides she wants to go to Bicester Village as there is a bag she wants available so she picks me up after work and we drive down there. They have on site EV parking, you book in prior to arrival, drive to a little hut to sign in and they show you to your space and plug it in for you. At the time all the restaurants and some in demand shops you had to book via an app and the wait was over an hour so after getting the bag and having a gander in several shops we decided to head home. Unfortunately I think it was only 7kw and we got there with low battery remaining as my wife hadn’t fully charged prior to leaving home. Left Bicester knowing we didn’t have enough battery to get home but didn’t want to wait around as we could fast charge it on the M1. Which we could but only on the 3rd attempt. Would have been fine if she left home with a decent amount of battery in the first instance.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

May sound harsh but I don’t insure my wife to drive my cars, she has hers I have mine. She refused to drive my cars after curbing 2 of my wheels ?.

Anyway.

I’d dropped my car into Land Rover for a warranty repair (I know). Only about 10-15 min drive to the office so a colleague picked me up from there and took me to the office. My wife was going to pick me up from work in the evening as my car was in at LR overnight.

My wife decides she wants to go to Bicester Village as there is a bag she wants available so she picks me up after work and we drive down there. They have on site EV parking, you book in prior to arrival, drive to a little hut to sign in and they show you to your space and plug it in for you. At the time all the restaurants and some in demand shops you had to book via an app and the wait was over an hour so after getting the bag and having a gander in several shops we decided to head home. Unfortunately I think it was only 7kw and we got there with low battery remaining as my wife hadn’t fully charged prior to leaving home. Left Bicester knowing we didn’t have enough battery to get home but didn’t want to wait around as we could fast charge it on the M1. Which we could but only on the 3rd attempt. Would have been fine if she left home with a decent amount of battery in the first instance.

With Cherwell Valley services just up the road, what’s the problem?

Sorry but this post makes you out as an entitled misogynist of the highest order

 

[Britishshooting]

Only a couple of people have been giving biased replies, most have pointed out genuine issues. I think the majority if not all are happy to go EV as and when the technology is in place.

Only one thing I don’t think I’ll ever ever get used to is lack of engine sound. Being able to buy something for £60k that can keep up with a lot of super cars costing multiple times that is a feat in itself and is amazing but my god I miss the tone of a nice engine. Especially when your doing 70+ on the motorway and you’re just getting the annoying hum of tyre noise.

Stressful days at work didn’t matter when you could roll down the window and listen to a V8/V10 (M5 that sounded like an old school f1 car) rumble as you cruised along. Terrible for the wallet but it scratched an itch an EV just can’t.

The acceleration can be mind blowing if your into that but it is somewhat sterile without the noise.

Genuinely think petrol heads will eventually get an EV but have a motorbike or performance car for weekends to fill that void. That’s what I’ll be doing.

 

[Britishshooting]

With Cherwell Valley services just up the road, what’s the problem?

Sorry but this post makes you out as an entitled misogynist of the highest order

Not sure where on earth you get that impression. Couldn’t be any further from the truth.

If it’s regarding the last sentence upon re-reading my post that sounds like I was blaming her, I wasn’t. I was speaking from an EV capability perspective that the range would not have been an issue if we left home with 100%.


If it’s regarding the not insuring her on my cars that’s as it’s her choice. Curbing 2 wheels cost about £150 to sort out it was a non issue but she still felt bad it’s her nature. I insured her after this during renewal but she still refused to drive them so I stopped paying the premium after that as it was pointless.

She just likes to drive what she knows and is comfortable in, so that’s fine.

 

[larmen]

Not sure where on earth you get that impression. Couldn’t be any further from the truth.

If it’s regarding the last sentence upon re-reading my post that sounds like I was blaming her, I wasn’t. I was speaking from an EV capability perspective that the range would not have been an issue if we left home with 100%.


If it’s regarding the not insuring her on my cars that’s as it’s her choice. Curbing 2 wheels cost about £150 to sort out it was a non issue but she still felt bad it’s her nature. I insured her after this during renewal but she still refused to drive them so I stopped paying the premium after that as it was pointless.

She just likes to drive what she knows and is comfortable in, so that’s fine.

I insured my misses on my car and it made it cheaper, even with her not driving it at the time. It was a just in case and I was surprised to save some bucks doing it.

What I want to say, your misses doesn’t have to drive it, but might be worth she can do it in case you bust an ankle or get drunk, … , and it might also make financial sense.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I insured my misses on my car and it made it cheaper, even with her not driving it at the time. It was a just in case and I was surprised to save some bucks doing it.

What I want to say, your misses doesn’t have to drive it, but might be worth she can do it in case you bust an ankle or get drunk, … , and it might also make financial sense.

My wife doesn't drive my car (she has her own) and I don't insure her on mine. She would put the premium up if I did, as proven by my renewal dropping when I took her off it (and not having driven it once that year.....or at all)

 

[Robster59]

My missus is happy for me to drive her car.......
When I take it to fill it up with petrol.

 

[phillarrow]

I insured my misses on my car and it made it cheaper, even with her not driving it at the time. It was a just in case and I was surprised to save some bucks doing it.

What I want to say, your misses doesn’t have to drive it, but might be worth she can do it in case you bust an ankle or get drunk, … , and it might also make financial sense.

I've found this as well. To be honest, I find it a bit insulting. Even when my ex-wife had points on her licence and a recent crash (both of which I didn't have) it brought the insurance down!
It's a bizarre industry the insurance industry. Actually scrap that - Insurance is an industrial-level scam!

 

[Blue in Munich]

I've found this as well. To be honest, I find it a bit insulting. Even when my ex-wife had points on her licence and a recent crash (both of which I didn't have) it brought the insurance down!
It's a bizarre industry the insurance industry. Actually scrap that - Insurance is an industrial-level scam!

This ^^^

 

[Slime]

I've just renewed my two cars' insurance with my current insurer.
Last year ...... £462
This year ...... £324.

Yup, I'll go along with that.

 

[Billysboots]

Would I buy an electric car? Only for local, urban driving. Long journeys are a right royal pain.

I drove 200 miles this afternoon up the M5 from Exeter in an e-Golf. The seller had fully charged it, I drove it with a right foot as light as a feather, and I still needed to make two further stops on the way up.

The 130-odd mile range advertised is urban driving based. On motorways it’s realistically nearer 90. Add the charging time on a rapid charge of 40 minutes, and the time spent trying to actually find a vacant charging point, and a 3 hour 20 minute journey became a 5 hour 30 minute torture.

No thanks. Too much faffing about for my liking.

 

[bobmac]

Would I buy an electric car? Only for local, urban driving. Long journeys are a right royal pain.

I drove 200 miles this afternoon up the M5 from Exeter in an e-Golf. The seller had fully charged it, I drove it with a right foot as light as a feather, and I still needed to make two further stops on the way up.

Was it the same as this e-Golf with a claimed 186 mile range but real life 125-130 miles

 

[Fade and Die]

Last month or so I have been really looking into this debate as my current lease deal for my Volvo XC40 is up in September and I could get an EV through work for virtually nothing, however I think I am going to pass, it’s the range that puts me off, this real life test sums up all the problems I would face, roof box, passengers, heater!?

Can’t be arsed to watch ANOTHER video? well this is the crucial bit…



And this is for a Skoda enyaq which was a serious contender for me.

 

[Billysboots]

Was it the same as this e-Golf with a claimed 186 mile range but real life 125-130 miles

Yep, that’s the one.

 

[Captainron]

Another massive issue looming here is the price of the batteries. Cobalt and lithium prices are going to go up again massively. Prices rises on EV will rise faster than the petrol/diesel models.

 

[Billysboots]

Last month or so I have been really looking into this debate as my current lease deal for my Volvo XC40 is up in September and I could get an EV through work for virtually nothing, however I think I am going to pass, it’s the range that puts me off, this real life test sums up all the problems I would face, roof box, passengers, heater!?

Can’t be arsed to watch ANOTHER video? well this is the crucial bit…

View attachment 41920

And this is for a Skoda enyaq which was a serious contender for me.

Yesterday was my first real experience of doing the sort of driving I regularly do in an EV, and I just found it utterly impractical. It’s all very well saying you can boost performance by driving in eco-mode, and with as many systems shut down as possible, but can someone explain to me how that is even remotely enjoyable?

Great for local stuff if your journeys are predominately short, but for any serious driving these cars are just a faff. I don’t want to be adding hours, and I do mean hours, onto an already long and tiring drive. Life is too short.

I have been a sceptic when it comes to EV’s from the start. Yesterday merely confirmed what I suspected all along. Until such time as ranges dramatically improve, and/or charging points become far more readily available, with far more rapid charging points, I won’t be touching one with a barge pole.

 

[bobmac]

Yesterday was my first real experience of doing the sort of driving I regularly do in an EV, and I just found it utterly impractical. It’s all very well saying you can boost performance by driving in eco-mode, and with as many systems shut down as possible, but can someone explain to me how that is even remotely enjoyable?

Great for local stuff if your journeys are predominately short, but for any serious driving these cars are just a faff. I don’t want to be adding hours, and I do mean hours, onto an already long and tiring drive. Life is too short.

I have been a sceptic when it comes to EV’s from the start. Yesterday merely confirmed what I suspected all along. Until such time as ranges dramatically improve, and/or charging points become far more readily available, with far more rapid charging points, I won’t be touching one with a barge pole.

So you wont get an EV based on the experience of driving a car that's designed for nipping round town and you used it on a lengthy journey on a motorway and didn't like the range?
If you had used a VW ID.3, you would have got there without stopping once.
If you used a Tesla Model S or Merc EQS, you could have got there AND BACK without stopping once.

And as for towing a caravan, I wonder how that affects the MPG on an ICE car.

 

[Billysboots]

So you wont get an EV based on the experience of driving a car that's designed for nipping round town and you used it on a lengthy journey on a motorway and didn't like the range?
If you had used a VW ID.3, you would have got there without stopping once.
If you used a Tesla Model S or Merc EQS, you could have got there AND BACK without stopping once.

And as for towing a caravan, I wonder how that affects the MPG on an ICE car.

I regularly drive well in excess of the ranges of those vehicles, Bob. Even those with the longer ranges would be needing at least one charge during my day, bringing into play the issues I found yesterday.

Whilst there seems to be this halcyon view that EV ownership is a joy, the following are just some of the frustrations I found yesterday. Two rapid charging points in a pub car park, both in use, and impossible to find when they would be available in a pub packed with lunchtime drinkers and diners. Another facility badged on Google Maps as “BP”, which turned out to be in a multi-storey car park - I had the choice of moving on, or driving into the car park, finding the charging points in use, driving straight out again and paying £5 for the privilege. The charging points near a school, with parents on the school run queuing for a top-up. Or the best one of the lot, the “public” charging point which was actually behind a barrier at a police facility.

I have several apps on my phone which I have used previously to try and plan routes in EV’s, which I tried to use again yesterday. All carried a lot of misinformation, the net result being that you actually have to drive to the charging point before you can see firstly if it’s available and, secondly, if it’s even working. All of that whilst watching the range diminishing and a growing sense of what I have heard perfectly described as “range anxiety”!

Don’t get me wrong, yesterday’s car was a lovely drive. But the simple fact is that, regardless of what EV you can splurge the cash on (I see the Tesla Model S is upwards of £70k), you are going to encounter these issues when trying to find public charging points in unfamiliar locations. The network is still way too sporadic to encourage me to swap.

Spiralling prices aside, give me a good old petrol station any day of the week.

 

[bobmac]

I regularly drive well in excess of the ranges of those vehicles, Bob. Even those with the longer ranges would be needing at least one charge during my day, bringing into play the issues I found yesterday.

Whilst there seems to be this halcyon view that EV ownership is a joy, the following are just some of the frustrations I found yesterday. Two rapid charging points in a pub car park, both in use, and impossible to find when they would be available in a pub packed with lunchtime drinkers and diners. Another facility badged on Google Maps as “BP”, which turned out to be in a multi-storey car park - I had the choice of moving on, or driving into the car park, finding the charging points in use, driving straight out again and paying £5 for the privilege. The charging points near a school, with parents on the school run queuing for a top-up. Or the best one of the lot, the “public” charging point which was actually behind a barrier at a police facility.

I have several apps on my phone which I have used previously to try and plan routes in EV’s, which I tried to use again yesterday. All carried a lot of misinformation, the net result being that you actually have to drive to the charging point before you can see firstly if it’s available and, secondly, if it’s even working. All of that whilst watching the range diminishing and a growing sense of what I have heard perfectly described as “range anxiety”!

Don’t get me wrong, yesterday’s car was a lovely drive. But the simple fact is that, regardless of what EV you can splurge the cash on (I see the Tesla Model S is upwards of £70k), you are going to encounter these issues when trying to find public charging points in unfamiliar locations. The network is still way too sporadic to encourage me to swap.

Spiralling prices aside, give me a good old petrol station any day of the week.

So the range isn't good enough, the infrastructure isn't there and they are too expensive.

 

[Billysboots]

So the range isn't good enough, the infrastructure isn't there and they are too expensive.

That pretty much sums it up ?